The prodigiously talented and Oscar winner Burt Bacharach: Pop Song Composer dies at 94 who delighted millions with quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of “Walk on By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and dozens of other hits, is 94. Died at the age of Mr. Bacharach died Wednesday of natural causes at home in Los Angeles, publicist Tina Broussom said on Thursday.
In the past 70 years, only Lennon-McCartney, Carole King and a handful of others have matched his talent for instantly catchy songs that continue to be performed, played and hummed long after they were written. He had top 10 hits from the 1950s into the 21st century, and his music was heard everywhere from film soundtracks and radio to home stereo systems and iPods, whether “Alfie” and “I Say a Little Prayer” or ” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” and “These Guys in Love With You.”
Cover Song Artists of Mr. Bachrach, Pop Song Composer
Dionne Warwick was his favorite interpreter, but Mr. Bachrach, usually in collaboration with the songwriter Hal David, also composed major material for Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones and many others. Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Frank Sinatra were among the countless artists who covered his songs, and more recent artists have sung or sampled them, including the White Stripes, Twista, and Ashanti. “Walk On By” was covered by everyone from Warwick and Isaac Hayes to British punk band The Stranglers and Cyndi Lauper.
Mr. Bachrach was both an innovator and a maverick, and his career ran parallel to the rock era. He grew up on jazz and classical music and had little taste for rock when he was getting into the business in the 1950s. His sensibility often seemed more aligned with Pan Alley than that of Bob Dylan, John Lennon and other writers, but rock musicians appreciated the depth of his seemingly old-fashioned sensibility.
In a 2018 interview with The Associated Press, Elvis Costello, who wrote the 1998 album “Painted from Memory” with Mr. Bachrach, said, “His shorthand version is that he does something for easy listening.” “These songs may be pleasant to listen to, but there is nothing easy about themTry playing them. Try singing them.
Achievements of Mr. Burt Bacharach: Pop Song Composer
He won in many art forms. He was an eight-time Grammy winner, an award-winning Broadway composer for “Promise, Promise” and a three-time Oscar winner. He received two Academy Awards in 1970 for the score to “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and for the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (shared with David). In 1982, he and his then-wife, songwriter Carol Bayer Sager, won an Oscar for “Best That You Can Do,” the theme from “Arthur.”
His other movie soundtracks included “What’s New, Pussycat?”, “Alfie” and the 1967 James Bond spoof “Casino Royale”. Bacharach was well rewarded, and well connected. He was a frequent guest at the White House, whether the president was a Republican or a Democrat. And in 2012, he was presented with the Gershwin Award by Barack Obama, who sang a few seconds of “Walk On By” during a campaign appearance.
